I think about things like this. I do!

I've been reading about the solar system, something we've learned a lot about during the last ten years. The twin Voyager spacecrafts took a zillion pictures and gathered a load of new information about the planets that has radically altered our vision of this solar neighborhood.

Did you know that Neptune and Uranus have rings like Saturn? So in many ways those three planets have more in common than we once believed. Pluto, no longer a planet, is part of the Kuiper belt of what they call "objects" - it's just one among thousands of things circling the sun, almost like another asteroid belt, way out on the far reaches of the Sun's gravitational field.

When they "demoted" Pluto, people left flowers and notes of condolence at the Smithsonian in front of the sidewalk sign that describes the former planet. I thought that was so sweet.

The astronomical community has embraced all this new information. Me, too! I think it's cool. Puzzling to me is that prominent astrologers haven't followed suit, working with the new information to update the art. Articles have been written about how the demotion has divided astrologers, but no one has yet come up with any ideas about how to incorporate that information in any practical way. It's interesting to realize that in this instance, astrologers are acting like sticks in the mud, while astronomers are going haywire interpreting the new data. Weird isn't it? Pluto wasn't discovered until 1930, so it's not like we're hanging on to some venerable aspect of the art of astrology. What gives with astrologers? Why are we so set in our ways?

Looking at so many images of the planets, I am more in awe than ever of this amazing planet. Though all the planets are interesting looking, nothing comes close to the intricate, elegant swirling blues, greens, browns and fluffy white clouds of planet earth. I am so glad to call this beautiful blue marble my home. Oh yeah!